Media Reacts To McCutch's Snub

Was McCutch snubbed? Hey, a good argument can be made for all the guys selected. So can one be made for Andrew McCutchen. His line is .294/12/45 with 51 runs scored and 15 stolen bases, a .393 OBP and .498 slugging percentage. McCutchen's WAR in 4.6; his UZR/150 is 6.9. That's a pretty complete player.

The national pundits (we suspect you already know what the local media think) have their own views, and they're unanimously pro-McCutch.

• David Schoenfield of ESPN's Sweet Spot blog writes "I figured he (McCutchen) was a lock for the team."
• Patrick McHugh of NESN posted "Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen boasts a .289 batting average, has 12 home runs and has driven in 43 runs on the season (before today's game). With such strong numbers it seemed a lock that the 24-year-old would be named to his first career All-Star Game."
• Keith Law of ESPN tweeted "What, McCutchen didn't make it? Did they pick the team with darts?"
• C. Trent Rosencrans of CBS's Eye on Baseball wrote in his piece "I still can't believe Andrew McCutchen's name wasn't on the All-Star list, he's the best all-around center fielder in the game."
• Anthony Witrado of The Sporting News noted "McCutchen has a higher average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and more steals than New York Mets right fielder Carlos Beltran, who was selected by manager Bruce Bochy. McCutchen is also having a better year than players’ selection Jay Bruce."
  
• Joe Lemire of Sports Illustrated's Five Cuts opined "Pirates centerfielder Andrew McCutchen is arguably the worst omission..."
  
• Mathhew Poulliot of NBC's Hardball Talk said "McCautchen (?), who is hitting .289/.390/.493 with 12 homers and 15 stolen bases and is the best player on one of the game’s biggest surprises, didn’t even make the Final Vote ballot for some bizarre reason."

It's gratifying at least to see that the national media has some idea of who McCutch is, even if the players and voters don't. We don't think the snub was meant to dis McCutchen; we think it's a by-product of the Pirates being a joke for so long that no one takes them, and by extension their roster, very seriously.

Hey, as we said before, there's a good argument to be made for every OF'er selected ahead of McCutch by performance or rep, or both. The players (except at contract time) and voting public aren't nearly as Sabermetrically inclined as the media and blogosphere are, so it's no surprise that they don't know the complete package that is Andrew McCutchen.

But McCutch belongs in the All-Star game. He made not have made it this year, but his time is coming, and quickly.